Australian National Review – Philippine mayor on the run with alleged links to Chinese crime blocs raises national security concerns

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The recent case of a fugitive former Philippine mayor with alleged ties to Chinese criminal gangs has raised national security concerns in the Philippines amid tensions with China over the Philippines’ maritime territories.

On August 30, Alice Guo, the ousted mayor of Bamban, north of Manila, was indicted in multiple money laundering cases. The cases are linked to illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), Chinese-run gambling companies accused of fraud, wrongful detention and human trafficking.
Guo is alleged to have been involved in obtaining Philippine citizenship through fraudulent means. The 35-year-old Chinese passport holder fled the Philippines with several accomplices in July, but the Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI) was not informed of their departure until a month later.
Philippine lawmakers have raised concerns about transnational criminals from China who may be involved in espionage activities in the country on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.
Guo’s case came as tensions between the Philippines and China reached an all-time high. After Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos took office in 2022, he opposed China’s aggression in the South China Sea, and China retaliated with more attacks on Philippine ships.
During the joint hearing of the Senate committee on August 27, Senate Committee on Public Service Chairman Idol Raffy Tulfo questioned how Guo and her family were able to stay in the Philippines with false documents and leave the country undetected.

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“How many more Alice Guos are there in our country today, who may hold inconspicuous positions in our government and private institutions, inconspicuous positions but sensitive and important positions,” Tulfo asked.
“This is a really serious national security problem that may be part of a sleeper cell from an enemy country.”

Escape route

During a Philippine Senate hearing on August 27, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said he was informed of Guo’s illegal departure from the Philippines on August 15.

Tansingco said Indonesian immigration officials had tracked Guo in Jakarta and an extradition request had been filed with Indonesian authorities, with the two sides working closely together.

Shiela Guo, the alleged sister of Alice Guo, and Cassandra Li Ong were intercepted in Indonesia on August 22 and taken by Philippine authorities as part of an investigation. The Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) identified Shiela Guo as holding a Chinese passport under the name Zhang Mier.

During the Senate hearing, Shiela Guo admitted that she fled the Philippines by boat with Alice Guo and her brother, Wesley Guo, and arrived with them in Malaysia in early July. She said Alice Guo then left them and she did not know where she went after that.

The BI revealed that Alice Guo’s escape route went through Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

Investigators said they believe Guo is trying to enter the “Golden Triangle” region of Southeast Asia to evade capture. The Golden Triangle is home to the Chinese-run telecom fraud industry, where the Guo family has a gaming-related business in Cambodia, said Winston John Casio, a spokesman for the Philippine Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).
The Philippine government has now approached the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to issue a blue warrant for Guo’s arrest.

Criminal charges

The NBI, the Anti-Money Laundering Council and the PAOCC have jointly filed money laundering charges against Guo and her accomplices, involving approximately 7 billion Philippine pesos (US$124 million) in assets allegedly derived from the fraud.

In addition to Guo, 35 other indictees include Cassandra Li Ong, Shiela Guo and several officials from QSeed Genetics, Zun Yuan Technology Inc., Hongshen Gaming Technology Inc., QJJ Farms and Baofu Land Development Inc. – all POGO-related hubs where Guo was either founder or president when she was mayor of Bamban.

Employees of Solaire Manila Resorts and Casino simulate a roulette game during a media day at the casino in Manila on March 14, 2013. (TED ALJIBE/AFP via Getty Images)

Employees of Solaire Manila Resorts and Casino simulate a roulette game during a media day at the casino in Manila on March 14, 2013. TED ALJIBE/AFP via Getty Images

Cassandra Li Ong is a shareholder and representative of Lucky South 99 Outsourcing Inc., an illegal online gaming company based in Porac, a province of Pampanga in the northern Philippines. According to the Philippine Department of Justice, the activities of the two women revealed a link between POGOs in Porac and Bamban.

Guo’s Baofu Park investment partners, Lin Baoying and Zhang Ruijin, were also among the protagonists in a Singaporean money laundering case. They were convicted and sentenced by a Singaporean court this year, but were released from prison on June 15 and deported to Cambodia, where they have been permanently banned from entering Singapore, Singapore’s The Strait Times reported.
Justice Undersecretary Hermogenes Andres told the Philippine News Agency that the government would send a “red notice” to Interpol for Guo once the charges are filed in court.
Criminals involved in illegal gambling operations often use so-called ‘pig slaughter’ scams to entice victims into investments or jobs and then defraud them or force them into slave labor.
There is growing evidence that Chinese pig slaughter fraud is extending beyond Asia. A BBC investigation in late 2021 found that almost 100 Chinese nationals from the Philippines travelled to the Isle of Man in England to commit internet fraud.
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